It is frequently desirable to provide a holder for an object which can allow the object to be displayed over a good part of its face or body either upon a horizontal surface such as a table or countertop, or upon an upright surface, e.g. a wall, a cabinet or even display panel.
In the past, holders have veen designed for one or another application, i.e. either to support the object upon a horizontal surface or permit to be hung or suspended from an upright surface or structure.
The objects in question can be any generally flat body which must be displayed, such as framed or unframed photographs, laminated pictures or signs, aroma-dispensing plates, deodorant plaques, publicity material or the like.
In the case of aroma-dispensing or deodorizing units, for example, the generally flat object may be removed from its package and seated upon a horizontal surface or hung from a wall or other upright structure. For this purpose separate means were generally required. For example, the unit could be sold with a base which may be removable or permanently affixed, constituting a stand for the object when the latter is placed upon the tabletop, countertop or other article of furniture. In addition, the unit could be provided with hooks or the like enabling it to be mounted upon the wall with or without removal of the base.
In practice this meant that two different elements had to be provided depending upon the nature of the support desired. The suspending element and the stand were mutually incompatible and to produce them required separate manufacturing lines and created additional expense which had to be considered in establishing the sale's price of the object. Furthermore, the two separate elements had to be stored, transported, packaged and distributed so that there were additional costs and inconveniences throughout the line between manufacture and use.
When the objects themselves were distributed without either type of support, the distributors thereof had to stock both types and supply the type desired by the user depending upon whether the objects was to stand upon a horizontal surface or to be suspended from an upright surface.
Frequently the users themselves had to choose between the types of supports and thus were constrained, once a particular support was chosen, to use the object in the manner determined by the nature of the support obtained or provided. The alternatives was, of course, to obtain both types of supports and to store one away while the other was in use.
These circumstances greatly complicated the distribution of objects which required such supports for practical application and rendered such objects inconvenient or unsatisfactory. This was particularly the case for objects such as room or closet deodorizers and aroma-dispensing devices capable of introducting a pleasant aroma into a particular space.